As readers of this blog know, the Senate recently confirmed five members on the NLRB. The compromise that permitted the confirmation vote to move forward required that President Obama withdraw his nominations of two individuals who were serving recess appointments on the NLRB, Members Griffin (D) and Block (D).

We’re closing in on a year since President Barack Obama controversially appointed two members to the National Labor Relations Board during the Senate’s recesss, giving the Board the authority to act just in the nick of time, but with that authority greatly questioned. Now, just this week, the Senate officially confirmed a full five-member board, the first full NLRB in more than a decade. But do the new appointees—some swapped out for the sake of an easy confirmation—change our outlook on the Board’s agenda? And what about the Noel Canning v. NLRBsuit about to go before the Supreme Court. Nelson Cary of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP and their blog, Vorys on Labor, joins me to discuss both issues.

The U.S. Senate voted yesterday to confirm all of President Obama’s nominees to the NLRB. The Democratic nominees were confirmed on a roll call vote, while the Republican nominees were confirmed on a voice vote. Thus, for the first time in nearly a decade, the NLRB will have five full members, all confirmed by the Senate.

Two recent cases of interest deserve at least a summary review – the vacation of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that deferred regulation and permitting of some carbon dioxide emissions in scientific uncertainty and rejection of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule on whistleblowers in private litigation.

How will the deal reached in the Senate regarding NLRB nominations impact the recess appointment dispute in the Noel Canning case pending at the U.S. Supreme Court, and the many other cases presenting the issue pending in the federal courts of appeals and at various stages before the Board?

President Barack Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have been a source of conflict since the very day he made them. But now, months later, it appears we’re nearing some form of resolution. Reports indicate the White House and Senate have struck a deal to avert what Senate Republicans have called the “nuclear option” for avoiding a vote on Obama’s appointees to the NLRB, CFPB and other positions. Joining me to explain the deal and its impact is Kyle Gilster, Partner with Husch Blackwell in Washington, DC.